Helping rhinos in the wild

28/02/2018

The smiles on their faces say it all.

We were delighted to be able to hand over a cheque for £500 to Darren Priddle and Jacqui Law from Extremus Dog Training Ltd. The money was raised from our staff social activities as well as our conservation partner funds. This money will help toward the cost of “Project Murwi”.

Murwi is a Dutch shepherd dog being trained by Extremus as an anti-poaching dog. She will eventually be sent to the Imire Rhino and Wildlife sanctuary in Zimbabwe where she will become fully operational and help in the fight against poaching.

Darren Priddle said:

“We cannot thank Folly Farm enough for both their financial contribution but also the donation of their time and facilities. Acclimatisation is a key part of any anti-poaching dogs training and having access to the sights and smells of such iconic African creatures like lions, rhinos and giraffes is vital to the success of the project.”

Tim Morpew, zoo curator added:

“It’s always a pleasure to welcome Darren and Jacqui to Folly Farm and watch them at work with the dogs. Conservation is at the very heart of what we do here and to be able to say that we played a small part in the fight against poaching out in Africa means the world to us.”

Funds for Project Murwi are also being raised outside of the working day too. Kim Cartwright, one of the zoo keepers here at Folly Farm (and a very talented artist to boot) is raising money through the sale of raffle tickets to win one of her paintings.

Kim said:

“I’m doing my bit to help support a brilliant project which will save the lives of many animals threatened by poachers.”

Muwri will be sent to the Imire Rhino and Wildlife Sanctuary in March 2018.